Tourists Come Out Swinging to Open the Homestand

ASHEVILLE- The Asheville Tourists opened up their seven-game homestand with an 8-3 win over the Lexington Legends on Wednesday night. The Tourists built an 8-0 lead in the middle frames and put the Legends away late.
Jake Bird made the start for Asheville and pitched five shutout innings to earn his sixth win of the season. Bird induced a ton of groundballs and the defense was ready behind him. Bird has not allowed a run over his last two starts.

Kyle Datres sparked the offense when he raced home from third base on a wild pitch. Neither team had scored when Datres took advantage of a ball that barely skipped away from the Legends catcher. The Tourists then used that momentum in the following frame.
Asheville sent nine batters to the plate in the fourth inning and scored four runs. Terrin Vavra and Coco Montes had back-to-back hits to begin the inning. Willie MacIver drove in Terrin with a single to left. Daniel Montano followed with an RBI single and Max George plated two with another single.
The Tourists then added three more in the fifth inning. Once again Varra and Montes reached to begin the inning. Montano and George then collected the RBI's with base hits of their own.
Lexington managed to plate a pair of runs in the sixth and added one more in the seventh; however, the Tourists remained in control. Will Tribucher struck out the side in the top of the ninth to clinch the win while Colton Harlow and Jacob Bosiokovic combined to toss three innings in relief of Bird.
The Tourists and the Legends square off at McCormick Field for game two of the three-game series on Thursday night at 7:05pm.